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March TO, I860:] The Leader and Saturday...
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CHATHAM AND WELLINGTON ON CONCESSION. FE...
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THE NEW CONSTITUENCIES. IN the wow Refor...
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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The King Of The Fqx Hunters* A Frenchman...
waited patiently till he came out . He could remember every dog by his face , and it only took him one interview to fix the nanves ot a dozen , new hounds in his memory . Every do- had its own -sto . i j . This one always brought home the foxVhead ; that one unaj ded had drawn a marten cat out . of a , heap « f hurdles ; a third had i oiled Nwith a fox off the roof of a barn , i n . « His whippers-iii were why as S partans , and qiuta as brave . One of them Used to be famous , not caring for losing- blood , for boring holes for his master in bull-finches . T 6 m- Smith used to ^ say of one of them who died of consumption , he would have given ten thousand pounds to save him . It was touching when the mighty hunterwas eiffhty years old—an interview he had with his old whipper-m , Ion Wingfipxd " May I make so bmild , Sir , to ask , inquired the whip , " whether you can manage them t / iere hi S places as well as you iised to in old Jack o' Lantern ' s daysP " "I hear no complaints , " said the Squire resolutely ; and I believe my nerve is as good as ever . "
" A \ i I sir , " said Tom the whip , sorrowfully , " it is not so with me ; for though my sight fails me , them there big places looks twice as big : tome as ever they used to . " ,,,-,, The wish of another whip was " to be laid alongside master in the mausoleum at Ted worth , with . Ham Ashley and Paul Potter the hunters , and three or four couple of favourite hounds , " in order that they might be all ready to start again together in the next world . " It was a sad sight for fox-hunters when , in November , 1857 , Tom Smith / in plain black ,-rode up to the meet , and as the scarlet river of horsemen poured through the park-gates , dismounted again ¦ slowly ,, and returned regretfully into his hall , never more to mount tb . epier-ski "? // . »
. _ _ . . , , , „ . ., . .. We close the pleasantly-written- manly book , confident ; that it records the skill and courage of a true Englishman . It is no bad epitaph to inscribe over a man , that "he succeeded and excelled in everything that lie undertook-. "
March To, I860:] The Leader And Saturday...
March TO , I 860 : ] The Leader and Saturday Analy > st . 231
Chatham And Wellington On Concession. Fe...
CHATHAM AND WELLINGTON ON CONCESSION . FEW people fully appreciate the danger of over-estimating a little good , when mingled with a superabundance of the contrary . The niost perilous shops to the collector are those where one decent , picture is discoverable amongst a mass of rubbish ; aiid an occasional truism from a privileged jester inu the . House of Commons or out of it , invariably passes for double its worth . . The " m ' iscestultitiam consiliis brevem" ( would that it ; were always brevis ! . ) ought to be a favourite adage -in .. England .. The ordinary Englishman is , when at work , a hardworking- and earnest . animal , and loves a little by-play and the semblance of ease . He his
likes the nonchalance with which PalmekStojt tempers exertions , and heard with secret delight Lord Meloboubne declare that he knew nothing about diplomacy , and that he inerely wished to take the common-sense view of an important political question . This mode of treatment suits equally the fun and humour of the lower Englishman , who has a secret sympathy with it ; it disavows the pedantry of which we all have an inordinate horror , and is acceptable to the " far lviente" spirit of the higher circles , who love repose , or . ' the appearance of it , and who are inclined to denounce as rather vulgar an excessive earnestness even in ordinary conversation . Hence our love of the easy-going and jocular ; hence our tolerance of Sibthokpe , and of those who seem anxious to step into his
empty shoes . When Sir Robert Peel held the bat one day on the Oxford cricket ground , a member of the landed aristocracy—we think Lord Wakd , but we may be mistaken—said humorously , " Your father has -just bowled us out ( alluding to the measures for Free-trade ) , and we mean to bowl you out as soon as possible . " We heartily wish Sir Kobeut may have occasionally . his one run , ¦ certainly no more , particularly when the Emperor of the French is bowling . Such players , when they make a hit , too frequently drive the ball into
their fellow batsman's wielcets , Sir Robeut ' s present play dining- his last two innings bus boon first to object to the defence of our volunteer corps , nnd nen * to move a qupHtion which just at the moment every sensible member of the House wished to suppress—the intentions of tlie French Emperor respecting Savoy ; just the one difficulty that , might lead to hostility , or . the threat of it . We simply state the fact . It may be meant as a mystification ; if so , it is on rather too serious a siibject- —if seriously , the honourable member ' s own special reasons arc not particularly worth discussing .
It used formerly to be said , " Qunnd los Frnneais out pavle , ils ont fini 3 quand les Anglais out p » rl 6 ils commencejit . " W « almost begin to fear that the adnge is undergoing a reversal liy no means creditaibjo to Lho national character . With the French it has been fur more the word and the blow ; with the English , panic , talk—panic , talk , nnd at last , tardily , preparation . H seems that Sir Robert Peel Hl < os the talk , and ridicules the preparation . No \ y , to us , it appears that nothing , can bo more undignified than this snarling 1 « nd growling about a matter for which—nnd Mr . Mij ' . nes and Sir IIobekt Phix know it full well—wo do not mean to fight ; and tliwo arc many more who tyive contributed during the last three or four yours to put their country in the panne ridiculous position on the Cherbourg 1 and other questions . Already there are Frenchm ><) iliV to ° lllln l . fyi * our credit , who most sincerely believe tbut Eng-1 and exists only by the
sufferance of Franco ; that hilly and discreditable deputation from the City of London—that " Do not , come and oat us ' petition to the Emporoi' of the FuwwoHn-wns probably the first thing which (\ ddcd rto the numerous bees on the muntle , one in the bonnol ; of I ^ vunco ; ; and wo » hall not put it out again by wienaco in debate , and
blustoring inaction . It is not what in our private opinion we ought to do in this Savoy question , it is what the nation infallibly will do , which should be considered . England , it is pretty evident , will go to war for nothing that is not of paramount importance , and paramount importance to English interests . She \ yill not , for the sake of the" French side of the mountains" tear to pieces the Treaty of Commerce , which is at once an important benefit to herself , and the strongest and most artful , though most indirect discouragement to
the dangerous and almost unmanageable predominance of the military spirit in France—^ -a view of the matter which most writers and debaters seem strang-ety to have missed . But should this not be the ¦ prirnary object of the Emperor , should the Treaty be merely a trap to compromise England with France so far as to prevent the former -. front taking up arms on a motive of generosity and honour , it is , we believe- —we might- almost say fear—r-sx trap into which . England would rush with her eyes open , content to sacrifice her thorough , liberty , of-action for the substantial bait of commercial advantag-e ; and not now only .
Some of our humorists have lately been comparing Savoy to an unwilling bride , doomed to pine or to perish in the arms of an Imperiarbut most unacceptable lover . If the latter persists in the purpose lie has expressed , England ' s final utterance on the subject may probably be found in " Antony and Cleopatra ;"—* ¦ ' Under a compelling occasion , let women die ; it were a pit 3 r to cast them away for nothing ; though , between them and a great caiise , they should be esteemed nothing . " So says the cruel and ungallant Ekobarbus . Whether nobly or ignobly , England will allow the King of Sardinia to exchange his ' ^ set of attics , commanding an unequalled view of mountain , scenery , " for " a good ground floor , " without any obstreperous remonstrance . At the worst , we should riot be making half the
sacrifices to keep the peace which we made to make it at the Treaty of Utrecht ,-arid at other periods of our . history . It is not like a resignation of our own possession , which was offered by Stanhope , a not unpatriotic minister when Gibraltar was tlie stake / . . We have no ministers like ' Cra . Tir . AM , when , in 1770 , taking example from the annexation of Lorraine , "in some , measure a pacific conquest , " he warned England against allowing a someAvhat similar annexation : that of Corsica , which , as it happens by a-curioils fatality , led to a good many other annexations , pacific and the contrary , by placing tlie I 3 ro 3 fArAitT . ES ' on ' the throne of France . " ¦ As to the wish of the bride on this occasion , expressed by deputation , we believe as ¦ much in its . sincerity as in that of the sham Belgian deputies who at the commencement of the republican aggressions canrie to express their desire to be united to France .
Not to put Algeria into the scale against the " mountain shed , " and say that they weigh equal , because nothing _ could vary more thaii opinions , might reasonably do as to the relative importance of the two possessions and thecomparativejiisticeof their occupation . We only propose to give Wjoixixgton ' s opinion with regard to the occupation of the former , and the notice which he -thought England should take of it . He said simply , " Let them have it , and say nothing about it . " Chatham had been a cornet , but Wellington liad been a general , and was at least quite as much interested as Chatham in England ' s honour ; but Wellington , with , perhaps , less political foresight , had a more salutary fear of war ; he had seen more bloodshed , and , like Spui / r , had a greater dread of its recurrence , and , above all , he dreaded War when England was not most thoroughly prepared or intolerably provoked .
TVe may be prepared now ; but , nevertheless , England most certainly will not make the Savoy business a ccisus belli . A calm g-ovc-rmneiital remonstrance is all the matter admits of , with as littlechattering and threatening in the newspapers or the House of Commons as possible ; let the country be spared the sliaine of uiaking herself a spectacle of impotent anger . Notwithstanding England ' s probable submission on tin ' s occasion , it is aswejl to hint to . our French friends that she is capable of beingprovoked . Let Franco interfere seriously with important English interests—let France , either with swift or tardigrade movements , attempt to advance by yards instead of by inches , and she may depend upon it the old game would be played over again , for not bo without allies
England would probably . Any Whig n . imalry who then attempted to temporise , or interfere , or counsel disgrace would be kicked out of power as surely and as summarily as Mr . Bright vas out of ( Manchester . England was the slowest to begin the war of the French Revolution- ; when she once begnu , she never desisted till she hud driven the French from one end of Spain out at the other , and finished at Paris the task she had Bet lierself . At such a period she would not allow herself the innocent relaxation of even laughing at Sir Robert l > itni / s jokes . Wo might have preferred Mr . itoEBUCK us a worthier , subject for expostulation , but his clamours , often injudicious , tire sometimes of nemee , mid the Honourable Buronot ' B ttoo innings tempted us to g-ive him tlip preference .
The New Constituencies. In The Wow Refor...
THE NEW CONSTITUENCIES . IN the wow Reform JBill , four of our great commercial nnd manufacturing towns are to have one additional member each . Twenty-ike enjallcr boroughs ore to bo shorn of one member , and three towns that . bu . vo hitherto been * hut polling-i'toc 08 for others , are to return in future Parliaments one member Wen . » o Jar , so good . Manchester , Liverpool , Binniing-ham , and Lce < ls , now returning two ¦ members , nrc to return three weinberH each ; ana Guildford , Hertford , Wevizos , etc , now returning two " «««» be ™ . are to return in future Pai-liamquts one member cwoli . Xhe new
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), March 10, 1860, page 11, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_10031860/page/11/
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